Buffalo, NY (WBEN) In the Erie County budget unveiled Monday by County Executive Mark Poloncarz, he announced $5 million would go toward renovations at Highmark Stadium.
The proposed expenditures come at a time when talks surrounding a new stadium are at a feverish pace and reaction from the county legislature is coming in mixed.
Poloncarz cited one issue that happened during Sunday's game during his budget presentation.
"There was a power surge outside of the stadium. Our internal surge protectors shut down our scoreboard so it wouldn't implode from the power surge," says Poloncarz, noting that's one of the things you have to work on when it comes to a large stadium operating since 1973. Poloncarz says the state is chipping in so the county itself is only paying $2 million for renovations.
"When you have a facility that large, you can spend $2 million on concrete repairs, HVAC/boiler repairs, real quick," explains Poloncarz.
Poloncarz says there is a lease on Highmark Stadium that will require work to be done during the offseason.
Erie County Legislator Kevin Hardwick says that money is already allocated as part of the last lease agreement. "Annual upgrades are something that were figured into the current lease which we voted on 8 years ago," says Hardwick. "These were expected and we were contractually obligated."
Whether there's a new stadium will be up to the next legislature, says Hardwick. "I know we're looking forward to the state's report that's going to be coming out soon on what they think we should do. So, until that comes out, this is premature."
Erie County Legislator Joe Lorigo says the allocation is questionable and reflects on the need for a new facility. "My first question is, if we're looking at building something new that the Bills are demanding, why are we sinking more money into an old stadium the Bills have said themselves they have no intention of using," says Lorigo.
Lorigo thinks the money can be put to better use. "We know they're going to seek hundreds of millions of taxpayer money for a new stadium. Why don't we save some money away so when it comes time for where that money's going to come from, we have that money saved up," explains Lorigo.
Lorigo says he's looking for more transparency as well. "I haven't been part of the negotiations, I have not received any updates from the Bills or the administration, and I haven't seen any of these studies that say a new stadium is necessary," says Lorigo, who adds his colleagues tried to get more information to no avail. "I want to see what justification they have in demanding a brand new stadium, because they're asking a lot of Erie County taxpayers."
Ron Raccuia of Pegula Sports and Entertainment last month told WBEN a new stadium was required because of the cost of a complete renovation. "It's not an option because of the amount of work that would need to go into making that stadium safe and NFL-ready in the future," says Raccuia. "The upper decks alone are $500 million. That doesn't count having to replace the electric from the original construction, the plumbing, the problems with the ADA seating." He estimates a renovation would cost $1 billion, which to him doesn't make sense when a new stadium could be built at a lower price.
The current lease expires in 2023.
